Grocery delivery now available in Bayview Hunters Point and Visitacion Valley Neighborhoods

San Francisco, CA – Supervisor Malia Cohen and Instacart today announced a new partnership that will expand grocery delivery services to the Bayview Hunters Point and Visitacion Valley neighborhoods.

Under this new expansion, residents in the 94124 and 94134 zip codes will now have access to delivery services from all of Instacart’s existing partners including Safeway, Whole Foods Market, Smart and Final and Costco. Bayview Hunters Point and Visitacion Valley have long been considered food deserts by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with residents having to travel at least a mile to access a grocery store where fresh and healthy food is available.

“This is a matter of social justice,” said Supervisor Malia Cohen. “Everyone – no matter what neighborhood or part of the City they live in – should have the ability to access healthy and fresh foods. We need to be creative about the ways we provide this access. This new expansion is a critical part of my ongoing efforts and initiatives to increase healthy food access to the southeast neighborhoods.”

“We’re thrilled to be able to expand our presence to San Francisco food deserts and meet the strong appeals for Instacart from the community,” said Heather Wake, Instacart’s San Francisco General Manager. “We look forward to serving the people of Hunters Point and Visitacion Valley and giving them access to quality groceries on-demand.”

“The Southeast Food Access Coalition has been working to increase access to healthy food for Bayview residents since 2007 and is pleased that all SF residents will now be able to access fresh produce through Instagram. This supports our efforts, and we look forward to further expand healthy food access,” said Jacob Moody, co-chair of the Southeast Food Access Coalition.

District 10 Supervisor Malia Cohen, who represents the Bayview, said that Fresh & Easy did little to support its Third Street store, and was unresponsive to efforts to work with the community. “I am deeply disappointed that Fresh and Easy did not include the Bayview community in this process. As a city we have made consistent efforts to be a part of the discussion to ensure that the Bayview community was not harmed by the failures of Fresh & Easy to capitalize on the economic opportunities in San Francisco,” she said in a statement.

So, San Francisco County isn’t a hard place in which to do business? But, yes it is a hard place in which to do business! Here’s the task – go into the Bayview and operate a gro sto that makes money, but keep in mind that this goal has been attained by nobody else. And when things don’t work out, a low-level elected official will call out your alleged incompetence to tout le monde.

“Fresh & Easy may point to the low-performance of the existing Bayview store as the primary reason for why it was not included in the acquisition agreement. However, this statement does not take into account that Fresh & Easy made little effort to support the day to day operations of the store.”

Malia Cohen, business consultant?

She said city officials “made countless offers to meet with the general manager of the store to discuss neighborhood marketing campaigns in order to ensure it would remain successful.”

So if you’re running a business in the 415, a “neighborhood marketing campaign” will “ensure” success? Really?

Supervisor Cohen said that the decision would force many Bayview residents to buy their groceries in other neighborhoods.

Oh, back to planet Earth, yes, at least we agree on this. Yes, the F&E is the only genuine grocery store in the area. Of course, there’s a Walgreens at 5300 3rd Street just five blocks away and it’s sort of a substitute for a gro sto. Here’s the extensive chip section – it’s the Great Wall o’ Chips!

(And this is just one part of The Wall.)

But it’s not really a full-on grocery, I’ll agree.

Oh, but what’s this the next block over at 5201 3rd? It’s Aguila de Oro Produce. See? It’s smack dab in the middle of the Lower Third’s purported “food desert” and yet it’s more of a “food oasis,” as defined by the Feds, than any Walgreens in the world:

This store serves all comers. And in a way, it has an unlimited supply.

So Malia, instead of crittercizing grocery managers who were given an almost impossible task, why not promote those who are already succeeding without the help of SFGov? I mean, the first thing I’d think about if you asked me to operate a full-on grocery in the area is why have all the other efforts failed? And then I’d think about how long will it take for my political “friends” to turn on me?

Cohen has already begun conversations with local grocers about potentially acquiring the site if Yucaipa does not reconsider purchasing the Bayview location.

“I am committed to working with the community to determine the future of this important asset, continue our economic revitalization efforts* on the Third Street corridor and ensure that the Bayview community continues to have access to health and affordable food options,” she said.

Blah blah blah. What does all this mean? Who created this “asset?” You, Malia Cohen, or those you harsh out? And who on Earth will “ensure that the Bayview community continues to have access to healthand affordable food options?” Access to health? That’s a tall order, non?

*Efforts, mmm. Was the Third Street rail system an “effort?” I suppose. Is it a success? IDK. IMO, we’d be better of without it, even though the Feds kicked in a lot of money. Was Redevelopment all those years ago an “effort?” Yes. Was it a “success?” Oh no. We all agree about that, in retrospect. You live in a world of yes-men, you know, your officemates. You don’t want to lose the plot, Malia, in such an environment. You don’t want to lose touch with the Real World.

“I would like to know the reasons why the Muni constantly stops trains on the T-Line at 23rd Street as if the rest of Third Street doesn’t exist.

“To see elderly women, men and children waiting over an hour for a train to get home is some of the worse treatment of citizens I’ve ever seen from a transportation system. I’ve traveled extensively all over the country as well as the world and I’ve only lived in this area for one year. However, this is obviously a classic combination of classism and racism being displayed, and it is truly a SHAME!

“I’ve decided to take my car out of the parking garage and drive. I refuse to be treated as a second class citizen. I deserve more and so do all the residents of Bayview. Last check, San Francisco doesn’t end at 23rd Street.”

Well I know the answer – it has to do with the district election system for the Board of Supervisors, and also the SFMTA’s general incompetence.

Now the Supervisor for our Bayview Hunters Point area asked about this sitch and the answer was that the T-Third zipped along at a speedy 9 MPH or something, so a T-Third Express wasn’t really needed.

Hey, here’s a jobs program. Why not tear out the T-Third and bring back the buses? Just asking. I mean the T-Third takes up a lot of space, right? Why doesn’t MUNI use it more?

Now speaking of the N Judah Express, here it is, in action, or lack thereof:

Click to expand

Is that four buses sitting around on Sansome Street during rush hour? The drivers are just starting work and it’s time for a 40 minute lunch break? All right.

And here’s another on Bush, just idling away.

Actually, even when the N Judah Express band-aid operation is operational during our rush hours, the buses are totally empty, no passengers, most of the time.

The pink areas are the purported food deserts. The blob on the right is mostly mostly-shut-down Hunters Point, where I think I’d get shot if I snuck in to look for a gro sto anyway. And the lower pink blob contains Candlestick Point, which is loaded with parking lots and a dismal state park for parking your RV and a big old stadium, so there you go.

“The construction of the Bayview Branch Library is part of the Branch Library Improvement Program (BLIP), which is funded by a $106 million bond measure to upgrade or replace the city’s branch libraries. A separate fundraising campaign by Friends of the San Francisco Public Library will provide new furniture and equipment for the new library. The new Bayview library is being rebuilt as a world-class library with separate children, adult, & teen areas; a large program room; an interior courtyard; public art; study rooms and space to provide expanded library services to the community. Designed by THA Architecture and constructed by KCK Builders, this 9,000-square-foot building will provide a seismically safe, universally accessible and environmentally sustainable library facility.”

As stated by Chief Suhr during Monday’s press conference, information pertaining to the investigation of the officer involved shooting that occurred on Saturday, July 16, 2011 would be released as it becomes available.

Results from the analysis of evidence collected from the hands of Kenneth Harding revealed that GSR (gunshot residue) was present on Harding’s right hand. The presence of gunshot residue on Harding’s right hand supports statements from witnesses that Harding held the gun in his right hand as he fired at the police officers.

The presence of GSR on an individual’s hands indicates that either: the individual fired a gun, the individual was in close proximity to a gun as it was discharged or that the individual touched a gun or other object with GSR on its surface and particles were transferred to his/her hands.